Tourism: 2020, a year of desolation
Audio 04:02
According to the International Air Transport Association, airlines are expected to have carried 2.7 billion fewer passengers in 2020, compared to last year, an estimated loss of nearly $ 118.5 billion for 2020. (Photo illustration) Roslan RAHMAN / AFP
By: Pauline Gleize Follow
9 min
The tourism sector does not really benefit from these end-of-year celebrations.
Travel restrictions, restaurants and bars closed in several countries, ski lifts stationary in France as well.
Not enough to make up for a year to be crossed off the calendar for tourism professionals.
The Covid-19 caused a descent into hell.
Publicity
Global tourism suffered, from January to October 2020, a loss ten times greater than during the financial crisis of 2009. This is the finding of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Over this same period, it recorded a 70% drop in international tourism, which translates into 935 billion dollars in losses in exports.
The repercussions on employment and overall wealth are enormous.
In November, the World Travel and Tourism Council predicted that the crisis could cause 174 million jobs to be lost worldwide this year.
Over the year as a whole, the UNWTO expects a billion fewer tourists to have gone abroad.
Thirty years back.
This could lead to a loss of $ 2 trillion in global GDP.
Share of exports
The fall in international tourism is strong everywhere.
For example, down by 69% in Africa, barely less in Europe and America, 82% in the Asia-Pacific regions over the first ten months of the year.
But, the risks are greater for some states.
Tourism occupies a preponderant place in the exports of certain African countries and small island developing states, the UN alerted in August.
International tourism revenues represent, for example, 67% of Cape Verde's total exports, barely less for Sao Tome and Principe.
It exceeds 30% of exports from Haiti and Mauritius.
The sector is therefore for these countries a supplier of foreign exchange.
Beyond that, it can be a lever for infrastructure development.
However, the UN has estimated that travel-related projects will be among the main victims of the drop in foreign direct investment this year and next.
Airlines have been hit hard by this crisis
"
A devastating and relentless crisis
" summed up Alexandre de Juniac, the general manager of Iata.
According to the International Air Transport Association, airlines are expected to have carried 2.7 billion fewer passengers in 2020, compared to last year, an estimated loss of nearly 118.5 billion dollars for 2020. And accounts are still expected to fall into the red next year despite hopes of a rebound;
a year 2021 that some companies could not wait.
More than forty of them have already gone bankrupt according to Iata.
Nature and heritage
And the consequences of the fall in tourism go beyond the economic losses of companies with an impact on heritage or sometimes on nature.
In France, for example, historical monuments show a loss of more than 50% of their turnover.
Despite an increase in the budget from the Ministry of Culture, online ticketing company Patrivia believes there will be irrevocable consequences.
So the Château de Chantilly, usually popular with Chinese tourists, launched an
online donation
campaign
to "save the estate".
The epidemic is also having an impact on animal tourism.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) emphasizes the positive aspect of less pressure from visits on the ecosystem.
But the downside is that a drop in tourist income combined with health measures has lowered surveillance and increased the risk of poaching.
Opportunity
However, the year 2021 promises to be still difficult.
The UNWTO forecasts a rebound in international tourism next year, mainly in the second half of the year.
Nonetheless, a return to 2019 levels could take between two and a half and four years.
The Iata expects 2.8 billion passengers against 4.5 billion in 2019.
To facilitate the recovery, while each state imposes different rules, the airlines are calling for a generalization of tests.
The Airline Association is also developing an application for a digital health passport.
The revival could be an opportunity.
The UN sees this crisis as an opportunity to rethink tourism.
Towards greater compatibility with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Currently, tourist transport represents around 5% of greenhouse gas emissions.
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